Introduction

10.1163/ej.9789004161948.i-216.5

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Chapter Summary

The concept of vocation has intrigued sociology since Max Weber made it a fundamental element in understanding the relationship between the individual and society. The author explains about a brainstorming on this theme, asking the students to write down what the word “vocation” meant to them in no more than five lines. The students’ considerations were clearly strongly influenced by the social and cultural context in which they live. The concept of vocation offers a very interesting point of view for understanding the meaning that individuals give to their own professions, activities, and life more generally. Weber’s reasoning starts from a Protestant, and more precisely, a Calvinist perspective according to which the role of the Christian in the world is to act ad maiorem Dei gloriam, in other words, for the glory of God. The dimension of ascetism is closely bound to that of vocation.